Rating: 
Summary: Best guidebook on Rome
Review: Our first trip to Rome was a great success thanks in no small part to the "Rome (eyewitness travel guide)" by Oliva Ercoli, et al, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. For example, the detailed street maps, located in the back of the book, allowed us to wander from the noisy and busy path of Rome's main streets and find our way around without fear of being lost. Additionally, Rome's many ancient sights were made easier to explore using the layered pictorial cut-away diagrams and descriptions in the book. The Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St Peters Basilica, and the Roman Forum are just a few of the sights covered in wonderful color and detail. The guidebook does not neglect practical local information either. Hours of operation, phone numbers, and other needed information on hotels, places to eat, local transportation, currency, etc, were most valuable in planning our activities. When touring, the size and weight were not a burden and the sturdy construction withstood daily use without damage. Almost like a bonus, the many beautiful pictures contained in this impressive volume evoked frequent pleasnt memories once we were back at home. In summary, I would recommend this colorful graphic and text rich guidebook as an excellent take-along reference for both first-time and veteran visitors to Rome. Buon Viaggio, Frank Criddle
Rating:
Summary: Don't leave home with out this guide
Review: Dorling Kindersley makes the best travel guides hands down. They are extremely well illustrated, have extensive and detailed maps (thank god, because I tend to get lost very easily and it is even easier to get lost in Rome), up to date information on hotels (rates, rooms etc), restaurants (costs and reservation policies), and sites to see. This is a more detailed look at Rome than their Italy book, which is also fabulous. The travel guides have wonderful pictures, well researched histories and facts about Rome (not just about the city as it stands today but a whole history of Rome from it's glory days), what wines and foods that one should try, detailed walking tours, information on famous art (there is a great section on the Sistine Chapel and all of the figures you will find in each panel). The book also covers the best places to shop (and there are SO many in Rome), where to get good deals on leather and other wonderful things. The book give you wonderful ideas on how to see the city in a limited time or really enjoy it if you are there for more than a few days. The book also covers things to do that many tourists might over look as well as telling you what is worth your while and what to skip. The book also covers customs, money changing, travel information - you name it! This is one of the best guides available on the market.
Rating:
Summary: best guide out there
Review: After looking through all the guides at the bookstore, we chose this one because it provided the most information in the most readily-accessible manner. We carried it around with us during our week in Rome and found it immensely helpful. Judging from the copies in the other tourists' hands, this is the most popular guide out there, and for good reason.
Rating: 
Summary: From a Holiday Present to A Vacation
Review: I received the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome for Christmas, along with several other books in the DK series. Happily, I spied a bargain travel package to Rome the next weekend, signed my wife and myself up, and haven't put the book down yet. The detail on each neighborhood and major sites is giving me a chance to plan each day and to prioritize dozens of sites. The immensity of Rome and the expansive lists of sites in the book assures me that I'm going to see exactly what I want, but I've been able to experience, at least through the descriptions, evrything that I'll miss. The reason I took one star off is that it's great for planning, but I most likely will leave the book at home and take a short list with us. The two drawbacks I've found are (1) the maps are too tiny, leaving out a lot of cross-street names to really be useful on site, and (2) the walking tours don't seem as interesting as in other DK books (I followed several of the London tours and have been fascinated by reading the Paris tours). I feel that I'll be better off with a notebook of plans, addresses,etc., a better set of walking guides, and a pocket-sized, more durable map. But, I'll also have a great keeper of a souvenier when we get home.
Rating:
Summary: Great Travel Guide, Beautiful Coffee Table Book!
Review: Summary:
Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more! The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes. Specifics:
The guides are organized as follows: How to use this guide
Introduction to Historical and Geographical information
Geographical Regions
............Introduction / History of Rome
............Specific City Areas
........................Introduction to street by street area
........................Detailed pictorials of area buildings
........................Architectural drawings, pictures, cut-aways of buildings
........................Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc.
............Six guided walks Travelers Needs - includes full list with rankings and notes
............Hotels
............Restaurants
............Shops / Markets
............Entertainment
............Rome for children Survival Information
............Local Info.
........................Tourist info., Etiquette, Personal Security and Health
........................Currencies, Telephones, misc info.
............Getting to Rome
........................Planes, trains and automobiles, signs
........................general map, sectional maps with index
............Travel Info.
........................Maps, tours, currency, etc.
............General Index
............Phrase Book Discussion:
The book begins with "Introducing Rome", including a complete map, a review of Rome, Rome's history, and Rome thought the Year - including events, etc. Areas with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of specific blocks, or forums, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc. The really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:
............Very complete
............Easy to read
............Beautifully and artistically completed
............Good shopping, safety and other tips
............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list. Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly. The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I used the reviews on hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, etc. and found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions The books are so well thought-out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages. Conclusion:
Each book in this series is a great help, and beautiful collectible resource. As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location. We have used some of these books to augment our research to investigate cities for our groups.
Rating:
Summary: Make Eyewitness essential part of your travel fun
Review: DK's Eyewitness Travel Guides are our best travel companion during our tour of Europe. Full of tips, pictures, maps, site info, history, local reference ... every page is not only helpful but beautiful. The layout anf format is very innovative and reader friendly, a ture standing out from any other travel books. It was interesting to see that almost everywhere we went, we saw other people (tourists apparently) holding and checking the same DK book on the street.
The coverage is comprehensive and growing year after year, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice ... every city we went have its own Eyewitness serie. We studied them before our trip, consulted them during our trip, and kept them as memo and photo book after our trip. They are simply essential part of the travel fun. I recommend buying indiviual city/area book wherever possible instead of the country book. For example, buy Rome, Florence, and Venice books instead of Eyewitness Italy (unless your destination doesn't have its own Eyewitness). That way you get more detailed and targeted info.
Rating:
Summary: Best guidebook on Rome
Review: Our first trip to Rome was a great success thanks in no small part to the "Rome (eyewitness travel guide)" by Oliva Ercoli, et al, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. For example, the detailed street maps, located in the back of the book, allowed us to wander from the noisy and busy path of Rome's main streets and find our way around without fear of being lost. Additionally, Rome's many ancient sights were made easier to explore using the layered pictorial cut-away diagrams and descriptions in the book. The Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St Peters Basilica, and the Roman Forum are just a few of the sights covered in wonderful color and detail. The guidebook does not neglect practical local information either. Hours of operation, phone numbers, and other needed information on hotels, places to eat, local transportation, currency, etc, were most valuable in planning our activities. When touring, the size and weight were not a burden and the sturdy construction withstood daily use without damage. Almost like a bonus, the many beautiful pictures contained in this impressive volume evoked frequent pleasnt memories once we were back at home. In summary, I would recommend this colorful graphic and text rich guidebook as an excellent take-along reference for both first-time and veteran visitors to Rome. Buon Viaggio, Frank Criddle
Rating:
Summary: Great book for remembering your trip
Review: Beautiful book for getting excited about going or to remember your trip by when you return. Also bought Rick Steves guide book which I found more practical with common sense advice and better sized for carrying around Rome without a purse or back back. Before and after Rome trip I used this book. In Rome I used Rick Steves.
Rating:
Summary: Outstandingly strong, still the leader
Review: Eyewitness has transformed the face of a modern style guide and raised expectations worldwide, the guide to Rome is a good example of a one-stop book for your trip. If you are taking only one book to Rome (however, I will suggest that the Eternal City deserves more than that; I used it together with City Secrets and Access, with a very good result), Eyewitness Rome should probably be that book. Very, very good maps and detailed, visually captivating and supremely usable charts of the main attractions are the strongest point of this book. In the obvious places like the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's it beats other guides hands down: the truth is, you will probably have very little time and the viewing conditions will be far removed from ideal, and the Eyewitness charts and pictures (often dismissed by snobs as too glossy and too nice) will be just what the doctor ordered. Eyewitness Guide is far less detailed, even superficial, where less popular points of interest are concerned. This is where your second (or third) book will come handy. I like brief but confident details of history, illustrated timelines and especially the lip-smackingly beautiful images of the Italian food. Do not expect this book to give you too much guidance about finding everything on the cheap: it is not a backpacker's guide and does not pretend to be one. Guidance on hotels and restaurants is adequate but not awesome, it is evident that this is not the main point of the book. While I am complaining, do you think they could get rid of this annoying cliche title: "Survival Guide". What do you think it is, a jungle? How many tourists die trying to book a hotel and order a meal? Try to think before writing, and you'll be fine. And a little bit of livelier language would not hurt, either, because sometimes the style is so cautious it seems it was written by libel lawyers. But again - overall a very good book, make it your first purchase before setting off to Rome.
Rating:
Summary: Complete Guide with Beutiful Visuals
Review: I have to confess up front. I love these books. I must have a dozen. I really like the Paris book, Rome, and the one for Prague, and Stockholm, and South Africa, and .... You get all the detailed material similar to other great travel books plus you get great visuals. On a cold day back here in the USA (or Canada) or elsewhere, have a glass of wine and sit in a nice chair or in the garden on a warm day and read this book. For a moment you will be back in traveling. The photos are that good. As I said, the photos and descriptions and the cutaway drawings are excellent and more than make up for any lack of small detail. But there is lots of detail here. The book includes the history of the city and many details on the art, art galleries, parks, culture, historical figures, cutaway views of historical buildings, and many other things of interest. The history is summarized at the beginning of the book with historical time lines and cross referenced to the culture and political figures. A solid effort - lots of stuff to see and absorb. It has the other things too such as maps, accommodations, transportation, and the rest. You will be pleasantly surprised with the depth and quality of this book and it makes a nice souvenir to refresh your memory when you get home. Jack in Toronto
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